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Medieval Europe + Byzantium

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A beginner's guide
Introduction to the Middle Ages
A new pictorial language: the image in early medieval art
Pilgrimage souvenirs 
Chivalry in the Middle Ages
Mapping the world
A Global Middle Ages through the Pages of Decorated Books
Travel, trade and exploration in the Middle Ages
The medieval calendar
Medieval goldsmiths
The classical past
Musical imagery in the Global Middle Ages
Coming Out: Queer Erasure and Censorship from the Middle Ages to Modernity
The Buddha’s long “journey” to Europe and Africa
Christianity and art
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Christianity, an introduction
The Christian Bible
The lives of Christ and the Virgin in Byzantine art
The life of Christ in medieval and Renaissance art
Who’s who? How to recognize saints
Architecture and liturgy
Judaism and art
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Jewish history to the middle ages
Writing a history of Jewish architecture
Medieval synagogues in Toledo, Spain
The Golden Haggadah
Book of Morals of Philosophers
The manuscripts of Luis de Carvajal
Altneushul, Prague
Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, Jobar (Syria)
Bayt Farhi, a Jewish house in Damascus
Three synagogues in the Venetian Ghetto
Books in Medieval Europe
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A beginner's guide
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Medieval manuscripts
Manuscripts: major works of art
Making manuscripts
The Bestiary
A Global Middle Ages through the Pages of Decorated Books
Visions of Paradise in a Global Middle Ages
Written in the Stars: Astronomy and Astrology in Medieval Manuscripts
Making the medieval book
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Listening to the medieval book
An introduction to medieval scripts
A medieval textbook
Parchment (the good, the bad, and the ugly)
Making Manuscripts: The Page
Skins and scraps
The work of the scribe
Words, words, words: medieval handwriting
Making books for profit in medieval times
Decorating the book
Biblical illumination
Illumination of Jewish biblical texts
Medieval supermodels
Binding the book
Clasps: hugging a medieval book
Medieval books in leather (and other materials)
Using the medieval book
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The medieval desktop
Getting personal in the margins
Smart bookmarks
Finding books
The medieval origins of the modern footnote
Medieval notepads
Types of medieval books
An Introduction to the Bestiary, Book of Beasts in the Medieval World
Medieval prayer-books
Early Christian
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Early Christianity, an introduction
Early Christian art
Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome
Early Christian art and architecture after Constantine
Santa Maria Antiqua
Santa Maria Antiqua Sarcophagus
The Good Shepherd in Early Christianity
Santa Pudenziana
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus
Basilica of Santa Sabina, Rome
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
The Vienna Genesis
The Story of Jacob from the Vienna Genesis
Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well from the Vienna Genesis
Classicism and the Early Middle Ages
The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
Byzantine
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A beginner's guide
Byzantine art, an introduction
About the chronological periods of the Byzantine Empire
Icons, an introduction
Byzantine Iconoclasm and the Triumph of Orthodoxy
Ancient and Byzantine mosaic materials
Wearable art in Byzantium
Early Byzantine (including Iconoclasm)
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Architecture
The origins of Byzantine architecture
Early Byzantine architecture after Constantine
Innovative architecture in the age of Justinian
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Byzantine architecture during Iconoclasm
Ravenna, Italy
Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy
Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna (Italy)
San Vitale and the Justinian Mosaic
Empress Theodora, rhetoric, and Byzantine primary sources
Art and architecture of Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai
Woman with Scroll
Byzantine Mosaic of a Personification, Ktisis
Ivory Panel with Archangel
The Emperor Triumphant (Barberini Ivory)
The Vienna Dioscurides
Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George
A chalice from the Attarouthi Treasure
The Byzantine Fieschi Morgan cross reliquary
Cross-cultural artistic interaction in the Early Byzantine period
Middle Byzantine
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Architecture
Middle Byzantine church architecture
Regional variations in Middle Byzantine architecture
Middle Byzantine secular architecture and urban planning
A work in progress: Middle Byzantine mosaics in Hagia Sophia
Theotokos mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Mosaics and microcosm: the monasteries of Hosios Loukas, Nea Moni, and Daphni
Byzantine frescoes at Saint Panteleimon, Nerezi
Manuscripts
Book illumination in the Eastern Mediterranean
Illuminating the Psalms in Byzantium
The Paris Psalter
Illuminated Gospel-books
Middle Byzantine secular art
A Byzantine vision of Paradise — The Harbaville Triptych
Byzantium and its neighbors
Cross-cultural artistic interaction in the Middle Byzantine period
Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello
Saint Mark’s Basilica, Venice
Mobility and reuse: the Romanos chalices and the chalice with hares
Byzantium, Kyivan Rus’, and their contested legacies
The visual culture of Norman Sicily
The Cappella Palatina
The Melisende Psalter
The Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire
Byzantine Art and the Fourth Crusade
Plunder, War, and the Horses of San Marco
Byzantine architecture and the Fourth Crusade
Late Byzantine
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Architecture
Late Byzantine church architecture
Late Byzantine secular architecture and urban planning
Deësis, Hagia Sophia
Picturing salvation — Chora’s brilliant Byzantine mosaics and frescoes
The vita icon in the medieval era
Byzantine miniature mosaics
Byzantine Griffin Panel
Icon with the Triumph of Orthodoxy
Post-Byzantine
Hagia Sophia as a mosque
Church of St. Nicholas, Balinesti
Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow
Early Medieval
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Anglo-Saxon England
Sutton Hoo Ship Burial (video)
Sutton Hoo Ship Burial
The Sutton Hoo purse lid
The Sutton Hoo helmet
Decoding Anglo-Saxon art
Brooch from Chessell Down
Fibulae
The Lindisfarne Gospels
Codex Amiatinus
Symbolism in the Book of Kells
The Utrecht Psalter
Carolingian
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Carolingian art, an introduction
Charlemagne (part 1 of 2): An introduction
Charlemagne (part 2 of 2): The Carolingian revival
Palatine Chapel, Aachen
Matthew in the Coronation Gospels and Ebbo Gospels
Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels
Lindau Gospels cover
Mosaics, Santa Prassede (Praxedes), Rome
Ottonian
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Ottonian art, an introduction
Gospel Book of Otto III
Bronze doors, Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim (Germany)
Viking Age
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Art of the Viking Age
Urnes Stave Church
The Lewis Chess Pieces
Romanesque
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A beginner's guide
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Romanesque art, an introduction
Romanesque architecture, an introduction
Medieval churches: sources and forms
Pilgrimage routes and the cult of the relic
A look at modern veneration
France
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Cluny Abbey
Saint-Pierre, Moissac
Last Judgment, Tympanum, Cathedral of St. Lazare, Autun (France)
Church and Reliquary of Sainte-Foy, France
Pentecost and Mission to the Apostles Tympanum, Basilica Ste-Madeleine, Vézelay (France)
Basilica of Saint-Sernin
Fontenay Abbey
Saint Trophime, Arles
Virgin and Child in Majesty
Casket with troubadours
Manuscript production in the abbeys of Normandy
Italy
The Basilica of San Clemente, Rome
The Romanesque churches of Tuscany: San Miniato in Florence and Pisa Cathedral
England
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The Art of Conquest in England and Normandy
The Second Norman Conquest | Lanfranc’s Reforms
The English castle: dominating the landscape
Motte and Bailey Castles and the Norman Conquest | Windsor Castle Case Study
The Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry, from BBC One's Seven Ages of Britain
The Animated Bayeux Tapestry
Durham Cathedral
The Morgan Leaf from The Winchester Bible
Spain
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Historiated capitals, Church of Sant Miquel, Camarasa
“Throne of Wisdom” sculptures
Virgin from Ger
Circle of the Master of Pedret, The Wise and Foolish Virgins
Camel from San Baudelio de Berlanga
Plaque with the Journey to Emmaus and Noli Me Tangere
Teruel, mudéjar architecture of Aragon
The Cistercian Poblet Monastery
Conservation: Cast of the Pórtico de la Gloria
Gothic
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A beginner's guide
Gothic architecture, an introduction
Cecily Brown on medieval sculptures of the Madonna and Child
France
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Architecture
Birth of the Gothic: Abbot Suger and the ambulatory at St. Denis
Chartres Cathedral
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris
Reims Cathedral
Reims Cathedral and World War I
Amiens Cathedral
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris
Bible moralisée (moralized bibles)
Saint Louis Bible (Moralized Bible or Bible moralisée)
The Virgin of Jeanne d’Evreux
Christ’s Side Wound and Instruments of the Passion from the Prayer Book of Bonne of Luxembourg
Ivory casket with scenes from medieval romances
England
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Southwell Minster
Salisbury Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral
Wells Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral
Four styles of English medieval architecture at Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral’s Lady Chapel
Henry VII Chapel
The Wilton Diptych
Matthew Paris’s itinerary maps from London to Palestine
Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic
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The Crucifixion, c. 1200 (from Christus triumphans to Christus patiens)
Hiding the divine in a medieval Madonna: Shrine of the Virgin
Bonaventura Berlinghieri, Saint Francis Altarpiece
Inventing the image of Saint Francis
Porta Sant'Alipio Mosaic, Basilica San Marco, Venice
Röttgen Pietà
Altneushul, Prague
Spain
Spanish Gothic cathedrals, an introduction
Portugal
Convent of Christ, Tomar
The Crusades
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What were the crusades?
How was crusading justified?
The when, where and who (of crusading)
The impact of the crusades
Krak des Chevaliers
Acre
Late medieval
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Michael Pacher, St. Wolfgang Altarpiece
Hermen Rode, Saints Nicholas and Victor Altarpiece
St. George and the Dragon, Storkyrkan Stockholm

Ancient and Byzantine mosaic materials

by Art Institute of Chicago

Video from the Art Institute of Chicago

Additional resources

Smarthistory’s free Guide to Byzantine Art e-book

Smarthistory images for teaching and learning:
St. John the Evangelist feather mosaicSt. John the Evangelist feather mosaicSt. John the Evangelist feather mosaicSt. John the Evangelist feather mosaicSant'Apollinare Nuovo, RavennaSant'Apollinare Nuovo, RavennaSant'Apollinare Nuovo, RavennaSant'Apollinare Nuovo, RavennaSant'Apollinare Nuovo, RavennaSant'Apollinare Nuovo, RavennaSant'Apollinare Nuovo, RavennaSant'Apollinare Nuovo, RavennaSant'Apollinare Nuovo, RavennaSant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna

More Smarthistory images…

Cite this page as: Art Institute of Chicago, "Ancient and Byzantine mosaic materials," in Smarthistory, December 20, 2015, accessed May 29, 2022, https://smarthistory.org/ancient-and-byzantine-mosaic-materials/.

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Bank of America's Masterpiece Moment

Hasegawa Tōhaku, Pine Trees

with Masami Zenyia, Executive Director of the Tokyo National Museum

Crafted in the 16th century, this pair of six-panel screens is painted in ink on paper and showcases both Yamato-e and Chinese painting styles. The work features pine trees―a typical Japanese motif―and it has beautifully captured the richness of a Japanese landscape.

Watch the video
Learn more about Bank of America's Masterpiece Moment Close

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